From Coast to Mountain

Well first off, and in biggest news, MY BROTHER TRAVIS IS ENGAGED!!!!!!! We had a party for him Friday night because I just couldn’t stop smiling!

In other less important news, my hand is not broken (in my opinion). The very high tech medicine here said that it was broken (I don’t know what x-rays they were looking at) and then proceeded to wrap my whole arm in a mixture of popsicle sticks and one of those long cloth bandages.  I left the hospital with my hand in more pain then when I arrived and with my arm wrapped from elbow to fingertip.  After a day of the world freaking out that I had broken my hand only to find out that I had broken my pinky, I was embarrassed enough to refuse to wear the crazy contraption.  So now my hands no longer swollen and my finger works well enough and it’s no big deal (as long as Hermana Kusch never finds out).

Beach in Acapulco prior to zone conference

Last week I’m convinced didn’t truly exist! Between the trip to Acapulco all Monday and then off to Cuernavaca on Tuesday until Thursday night my week was gone.  I spent a long time sitting in offices waiting on visa papers.  A highlighting moment went down when I was doing my fingerprints and went to do my left hand (broken).  I was supposed to start with my pinky but, due to its broken nature I was going to start with my thumb.  The lady, thinking I didn’t understand Spanish, said "no its this one first" while grabbing my pinky and giving it a good shake....I guess my face said it all on that one cause the scary immigration ladies never give hugs :)

The saddest thing that happened this week is that the Hermanas in Galeana were emergency transferred at the crack of dawn due to kidnapping threats.  First Obrera and now Galeana, and holy cow are we going to miss those girls! The scary part is that the theme is going from area to area....and my area is the next one in that sequence.  The best is that our members realize it too! The other day at dinner the dad, who looks like LeBron James, slammed his fist on the table and said "if they even think about coming after you, call me up and I’ll teach them a lesson or two!!!" So I feel super safe with Beto behind me :D

Happy with the children

I think the greatest part about this week is the little things that we ourselves didn’t have the chance to see or experience, but that we were told by other members.  Recently it’s felt like we have been pouring in all our hearts and souls and obtained very little but it all changed for me Sunday.  It wasn’t different because a thousand random people came to church.  It wasn’t because our internal investigator finally got permission from her parents to be baptized.  It wasn’t even because there were a lot of people at church.  It was just the gratitude in the voices and eyes of amazed members as they talked about the changes they could see happening in their inactive family members and investigators.  I think a quote from a man my friend Elder Junge was teaching this week sums up missionary work quite nicely, "Just think about it, your lives from the minute you leave the pillow until the minute you get back into bed, the sole purpose of all that time, is to bless and improve the lives of others. Have you ever thought on how much good you've already done? How many lives you've already changed? It’s got to be a giant number. And it’s something you should never take lightly."                        

It all reminds me of the council of my dear brother at the beginning of my mission.  The numbers are one thing, but the people are another.  We can choose to impact the lives of everyone we come in contact with every day or we can walk from appointment to appointment haphazardly.  What counts more than anything else is the effort we put into every moment and when you’re pouring in the whole energy of your soul the impact is unmeasurable.  It’s a number that we will never know, but it’s a number far greater than anything else on the mission.  I’m so grateful for this time I have to focus only on the lives of others, to make a child smile, to carry an older ladies groceries, to make our members smile and know we love them.  Reaching out truly brings an abundance of joy that we can all feel!

May we all reach out more this week and try to be a little better,

Hermana Neuberger